Loyalty
by Ghostwriter
Summary: A short look as to what made David so loyal to Max.


THE LOST BOYS FILES #1 LOYALTY

INTRODUCTION

A short look at what made David so loyal to Max.

DISCLAIMER

The characters Max and David belong to Warner Bros. I'm not making any money off of them. The only characters in the story that I own are David's father and the girl customer. And once again, sorry about the bad formatting. I'll try to fix it for future stories.

His father was angry again. The boy knew that he better get out of there while he still could. Making a decision, he took off. Ignoring the crowd, the teen headed straight for the Santa Carla video store.

"David," Max noted in surprise. David stepped inside.

"Can I hang here?" he questioned.

"Of course," Max told him. David walked to the counter. Max studied his face. Though the boy showed no bruises, he knew what kind of a man David's father was. And if the teen was here, that could only mean one thing.

"How much did he have this time?" the man asked.

"Too much," was David's response. "I'm, uh---gonna go pick out a movie," he continued.

"Yeah, go," Max told him. The teen headed for the horror section. Max shook his head. Kids. They always wanted to be scared. Just then, a teenaged girl came in.

"Hello. Can I help you with something?" Max greeted. In the horror section, David roamed around. He couldn't find anything he hadn't seen before. That was the only problem with Max's store. It was so dang small. But David couldn't really complain. After all, Max **did** let him stick around when his father drank too much. Just then, David caught sight of the 1931 version of _Dracula_.

"Perfect," the boy approved. Even though the movie was really old, it still gave him the shivers. As he picked up the video, he heard the front door open.

"Where's my boy?" a harsh voice demanded. David froze. It was his father!

"Hello, I'm Max. May I help you with something?" David heard Max offer. "We have the finest selection---"

"I don't want no stinkin' tape! I want my boy! I know he's here!" David's father bellowed. David cringed at the loud voice. His father was completely wasted. Would Max be able to handle him?

"Sir, I'm sorry but the only customer I've had all night is the teenage girl you just saw leaving," the video store owner lied.

"I know David's in here! And he better come home with me right now!" David's father shouted. David shook. His father was really getting mad. The boy dared to peek around the corner. His father was screaming in Max's face flailing his arms around wildly. During his tirade, the man kept leaning back, as if threatening to fall over. David placed _Dracula_ back in its spot on the shelf. Suddenly, the movie no longer held any appeal.

"Sir, I'm sorry, but as I told you, I've only had one customer. And it wasn't your son," Max stated. David's father staggered on his feet, but managed to catch himself.

"I want you to tell my son that if he doesn't come with me right now, he is going to get it," the man threatened. Once again, David hid in the aisle. What should he do? He had come here to escape his father's wrath and had ended up igniting it. David's father grabbed Max's jacket with one hand and made a fist.

"Dad, I'm right here." As he spoke, David stepped into view. "I came here to get a video. They didn't have what I was looking for," he continued. With each word, David forced himself to approach his father.

"Come on! We're going home!" the man growled, grabbing his son's arm. He pulled the boy towards the exit, berating him with each step they took. Max watched until they disappeared from sight.

"I don't like that man," he stated. With that, he left the store and followed them.

"What were you doing in that store? Huh?" David's father demanded.

"I told you: I went there to rent a video, but they didn't have what I was looking for," David said. The next thing he knew, his father had snaked out his arm and slapped him!

"**Don**'**t** lie to me!" the man roared.

"I'm---I'm not," David stammered. He was slapped again.

"No back talk!" was the reprimand.

"Dad, you're drunk," David tried to reason. This only brought forth a series of slaps. The blows knocked the teen to the ground. All of a sudden, there was a loud WHOOSH! David's father screamed. They were terrible screams. Screams that David tried to block out, but couldn't. Finally, all was quiet.

"David," a voice said quietly. David looked up. It was Max! But he was no longer Max. His eyebrows were bushier, his mouth longer, as were his fingernails and teeth. David looked at his father. In the place of the man that had brought him so much terror and pain, lay a corpse. A corpse that had had its blood sucked dry.

"What the heck?" the boy questioned.

"David, my boy, there's some things about Santa Carla I need to explain to you," the vampire declared. He offered his hand. Hesitantly David took it and was helped up. Vampire and mortal walked into the night.

THE END


End file.
